For all Our Christmases
by Dusk Evermore
Summary: This is a stand alone 'Fluff' story. It is Christine and Erik's first Christmas together, but Christmas is not a concept that Erik seems to understand. Although Christine attempts to teach him, Erik seems as though he will never truly be interested in the holiday. However...


**Nb: Hello everyone! This is a stand alone Phantom of the Opera fiction that I had begun to write on the start of December, I have finally finished and I would love to share it with you all. It is my first 'Fluff' piece =) I know it is not very much, but I wanted this to be a big thank you to everyone who has supported me through my writing adventure. Without further ado, here is my story! I take no credit for the Phantom of the opera or its characters =)**

Christine sat with her feet propped up on the cosy footstool as she slowly read through each letter with a smile. With Erik's help she had become one of the most celebrated divas in the country and she always took the time to read all the letters her admirers sent her, and at Christmas she was swamped even more with them. Erik, in contrast sat at his desk and worked diligently on some architectural plans.

Christine looked at him sadly and cast a guilty glance at her mountain of letters, although it had not seemed to bother Erik in the slightest way that he had never received any letters from loved ones or strangers alike, she still tried not to draw attention to the fact. She gazed at one of the letters and giggled to herself.

"A letter from Meg, Christine?" Erik inquired as he glanced at her as she laughed.

"Oh, yes, Erik.." she responded gently when her giggles had stopped. "How could you tell?"

"You only giggle like that when two individuals write to you. One of those is Meg." He turned his gaze back to his plans and continued in a much quieter tone. "..The other is the Viscount... And before you start apologise or some other nonsense, allow me to reassure you that I do not mind. I.. No longer feel threatened by that man." He flicked his gaze back to her with a warm smile. "Because you chose this blessed Erik, my angel... You chose me."

Christine returned his smile. "I'm the one who is blessed, Erik." She was often chilled by the thought that things could have turned out very different, but fate was kind and she was looking forward to their first Christmas together.

She just wished that Erik would celebrate it, or even acknowledge it a little. For Erik, Christmas was just another day and although she had tried to teach him some of the Joy's of it he was almost totally disinterested.

"Snow is just frozen rain, why would I wish to create a humulicus out of it?" He responded when she told him about the joy of building snow men.

"You are already here, why should I try to recreate you?" Were his words about making snow Angels.

"What if you break your legs, my Angel?" He asked in horror at the suggestion of sleigh rides.

"That sounds hazardous." He murmered as she told him about ice skating.

"Is it to the death?" He had inquired in an almost curious tone when she explained the art of snowball fighting.

"Holly berries are poisonous!" He all but shouted when she suggested they decorate the house with mistletoe and holly.

"I had best keep the fire burning so the fat man cannot get in." Was his answer to Santa.

And lastly. "You are my gift, I need nothing more." He declared when she explained about the delight of gift giving.

The one thing she did not talk about was family and friends visiting, she was worried that he would be forced to relive old memories. She wanted him to be happy and that is why she had tried to share the joy of Christmas with him. But she had realized with sorrow that it was something that he did not understand. Even now the house was bare. There were no decorations or tree, no songs or stockings. It was little more then an ordinary day to Erik, and she pitied him.

She carefully placed her letters down and sighed. "Erik, I'm going to have an early night."

He did not look up from his plans but nodded his head. "I will be awake for a while yet, I need to get these finished."

As she walked up the stairs he called to her. "And do not worry, my Angel! I have put extra logs into the fire so the fat man will not creep down!"

...

Erik listened to Christine's footsteps fade and the sound of their bedroom door as it was gently closed. The sound was born of sadness and disappointment, and he sighed to himself and looked down at his plans. It was not that he did not wish to celebrate his first Christmas with Christine, he was actually quite excited, but the more she spoke of it.. The more confusing it sounded.

For him, Chirstmas was never a day of fun and warmth. Even before the Ruin. Eventually Christmas became just another day for him and he was not sure that he even knew how to celebrate it anymore. But he was going to try, for Christine.

He stood up and walked to his closet where he normally kept his tools for his architectural creations, but behind Christine's back he had smuggled various decorations of Christmas cheer and now the closet was stuffed full of brightly coloured objects that made soft sounds as he picked them up.

..

He was exhausted, the whole of the lower half of the house was decorated and it would still be a while before Christine woke up. He glanced at her opened pile of letters and grinned to himself, he may not have received any letters, but he had done a certain amount of sending letters instead. He looked at the festive mask he made for himself and wondered if he should have put some bells upon it so it would jingle. He placed the mask over his face and yawned a little as he began to make his way upstairs to see if Christine was awake. As he climbed the stairs he noticed that the small side cupboard that they kept at the end of the hall looked strange.

He quietly approached it and noticed that there was what looked like a piece of paper was sticking out between the cupboard doors. He opened them without thinking and was bombarded by a flurry of white. He realised that they were letters. He wondered why Christine had not opened them yet and looked at the back. All that was written on there were the words.

'To Erik.'

As quickly as he could he checked the back of every letter and noticed that each one was addressed to him, at the very back of the cupboard was a letter that had the words 'Open me last!' on them. He sat himself on the floor and began to open every letter but that one. Each letter was dated at a Christmas Day that had already gone by, but the contents were all different. Each letter had a different thing to say about him such as.

'You are artistic' or 'You are kind'. Each one had a different compliment that almost made him cry. He never had letters at Christmas, never. When he opened the last letter, he found the hand writing very familiar.

'My beloved Erik," it read. "For every Christmas you ever missed, I wanted to write something that shows how special you are to me. I practiced hard so you wouldn't recognize my writing, how did I do?

I wish I could give you more, Erik. But I want you to know that I love you, and no matter how we celebrate our first Christmas together, I want you to know that I'll cherish every moment as long as I'm with you.

Merry Christmas, Erik!

Love, Christine.'

By the time he had finished reading, hs eyes were blurred by tears. He hugged the letter to himself and wondered what he did to deserve an Angel like Christine.

He heard a soft knock on the front door, and quietly walked downstairs.

...

Christine awoke with a small yawn and noticed that Erik was not asleep next to her, she sighed. "Oh, Erik.. What am I going to do with you?" It was not uncommon for Erik to fall asleep while working on his various projects, she had however tried to encourage him to return to bed instead of working at his desk until he fell to sleep from exhaustion.

She got dressed quickly and made her way down stairs, she cast a quick glance towards the side cupboard and noticed that the letter still peaked out where she had left. No sooner had she reached the bottom step, she realized that the whole place was decorated with Chirstmas cheer. She could not believe her eyes and rushed towards the living room. The door was shut and she quickly opened it as she called. "Erik?"

"Merry Christmas, Christine!" Called three very familiar voices.

In front of her stood not only Erik with a cheerful and festive mask on his face, but also a grinning Meg and a laughing Raoul. Behind the three of them was an undecorated Chirstmas tree.

Her jaw dropped and her eyes filled with tears. "What...?" She whispered, she was almost speechless.

Erik walked towards her and pulled her into a hug. "I thought that we could decorate the tree and spend the day with friends." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "I got your letters, thank you Christine.. You have made me so happy."

...

They all decorated the tree, and placed the decorative Angel on the top. The Angel looked like Christine and Erik murmured that he made it himself. He seemed both embarrassed and proud when Meg stated that she loved it and asked if he would consider making some decorations for the opera house.

They went snowball fighting, and it quickly descended into a battle between Raoul and Erik that seemed to be as intense as an actual battle. In the end Christine and Meg stepped in before it resulted in a carnage that no one would have expected from a snowball fight.

They built snowmen and Erik was surprisingly bad at it. But he was proud of 'His Humulicus' and seemed to take an almost childish glee that the snowman he created looked as though it was forged from nightmares.

They went sledding, Christine and Meg flew down the snow while laughing with joy. Erik and Raoul took the sledging at a very slow pace, both of them were content to watch the two women fly across the expanse.

They did not ice skate however, Erik was far to worried about the 'dangerous ice'. Raoul agreed with him whole heartedly and the two men shared a laugh as Christine and Meg groaned in unison.

Towards the end of the day, they all had dinner together. There was laughter and merriment around the table as Meg and Christine spoke of old times. Raoul and Erik pulled a Chirstmas cracker and Erik read it out.

"Viscount, you will die tonight." He said with an evil grin under his mask. In a panic, Raoul snatched the piece of paper from him. It read nothing of the sort and Erik laughed hysterically as Raoul scowled at him.

Towards the end of the meal, Raoul cleared his throat. "I actually have an announcement to make." He sounded nervous and glanced towards Meg who beamed at him and nodded. "Meg and I are getting married and I was hoping that you would both attend?" He looked at Erik and added. "The dress code includes masks, so I hope that you will consider being my best man." Raoul finished his sentence with a smile.

...

After Meg and Raoul left, Christine and Erik sat by the fire and watched the snow fall outside the window.

Erik cleared his throat. "Thank you for my present, Christine." He said gently. "You have given me Christmas. I am sorry that I did not get you anything."

"Erik, you gave me the most wonderful Christmas I have ever had!" She kissed his unmasked cheek. "You gave me the best present I ever could have hoped for. You gave me you, Erik."

He looked at her confused and almost sorrowful expression. "I am not much of a present. Are you sure that the gift of me is enough?"

She placed her hands upon ether side of his face and gently kissed his lips. "For all our Christmases." She whispered as she pulled away, she looked him warmly. Her blue eyes radiated love and her smile was one of sheer happiness as she whispered to him.

"You're all I'll ever need."

(The end, Merry Christmas Everyone!)


End file.
